No long post today, just a few pointers for the start to 2013 regarding New Year Resolutions.
Seriously. Brace Yourselves.
If you’re a regular gym goer, be patient. Every year, the month of January turns the gym into a mad house; What’s especially frustrating is watching people take up equipment and knowing that you’ll only see them during the month of January. If you’re an impatient person, now is the time to hone your skills and become patient, especially if you have a training day scheduled for the first of the year. (As we do. . . I try to plan maintenance weeks around the beginning of the year, but this year it didn’t line up.)
If you’re one of the “New Year Resolution Gym Members,” don’t be. A healthy lifestyle is just that– A lifestyle. Resolving to go the gym all year “as my next year resolution” won’t cut it, nor will creating a resolution simply from pressure by others; The desire to change has to be present, otherwise you’ll only ever know the gym during January.
If you are making health, fitness, nutrition, or all of the above a part of your new year resolutions, be realistic. I’ve read countless articles about the reason resolutions fail, and in most cases, it’s because unrealistic resolutions were decided on. Start small, and allow your goals to evolve as you reach certain benchmarks, or stick with it long enough. Everything in life can be looked at as a staircase; You can try to jump from the floor to the sixth step, but failure is very likely. . . It’s best to look at the path ahead and take it one step at a time. (Even if your resolutions have nothing to with health or fitness, that still applies!)
Regarding my health / fitness goals, I only really have two, and both are within my grasp since I’ve been working toward them for some time: The first is to finally deadlift four plates (405 lbs. 1 X 5); I’ve been working on this for over a year and am at 395 lbs. currently. My second goal is to continue on the path I’m on and compete in a natural physique competition this summer.
We just survived the “Apocalypse,” so let’s make 2013 a great year!